Yearning to Breathe Free

It was business as usual at the Wampler Longacre turkey
processing plant in Harrisonburg, Virginia, last February 3,
1997. Some 150 workers punched in, took to their stations,
and did their part to provide Americans with reasonably
priced, low-fat alternatives to bologna and bratwurst.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m., just as people were beginning
their shift break, armed men surrounded and stormed the
factory. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services agents,
local and state police, the FBI, and local sheriffs rounded
people into corners and slapped handcuffs on them. Aided by
barking dogs and a loud command of the English language, they
interrogated the workers in an effort to weed out all
undocumented people. Everyone was cornered and grilled about
their citizenship, including workers from Russia, China, and
Latin America. In the end, 50 people were arrested and taken
to jail. All those taken were Latin American.

Hours later, Rev. Samuel Pagan of the Agape Bilingual
Mennonite Mission received word of the raid from local
pastors asking him to go to the jail and check in on their
parishioners who had been arrested. After much negotiation
with INS agents, he was able to secure the release of women
whose young children were awaiting them at home.

Pagan learned that 12 people were deported immediately
after admitting to being in the country illegally. At least
one from this group actually had been here legally;
apparently he had been so intimidated by the experience that
he pled guilty in order to secure his release, after which he
was escorted out of the country. His family in Virginia
didnt know what had happened to him until they received
his call from Mexico.

The Wampler raid, and others like it around the country,
reflects a stepped-up INS enforcement of immigration law,
especially in light of the immigration reform act passed by
Congress last fall. Despite President Clintons
assurance to Central American heads of state earlier this
year that "there will be no mass deportations and no
targeting of Central Americans under [the new immigration]
law," Latin Americans continue to be rounded up and
arrested with little concern for due process.

While not radically overhauled, immigration law has been
tightenedostensibly to decrease abusein terms of
time limits for asylum applications, procedures for
deportation, and requirements for entering the country
legally. Some immigrant advocates worry that the new
guidelines are too harsh. For example, the new law allows for
people to be deported within 10 days of arrest, with no right
to a hearing.

OF GREATER CONCERN is how nationwide attitudes toward
immigrants have taken a turn for the worse. This is reflected
in both the harsh enforcement of the immigration laws and in
the denial of SSI and food stamps to legal immigrants
mandated by the Welfare Reform Act. For years, the country
looked the other way as Mexicans and Central Americans moved
north to harvest our food and clean our high-rises. Several
sectors of the economyespecially agricultureare
absolutely dependent on this pool of inexpensive labor.

Fifty-nine percent of surveyed Americans believe that
Mexican immigrants have not benefited the country at all, and
in fact have mostly created problems. With this kind of
public attitude, the INS could arrest only the Latin
Americans at the Wampler plant without much fear of reprise
or outrage.

But there was outrage, and it came from the churches. Six
days after the raid, 400 people from diverse religious
backgrounds gathered at Ridgeway Mennonite Church in
Harrisonburg. The Interdenominational Coalition for Justice
was formed to provide assistance to the families of those
arrested, to educate the community about immigration issues,
and to provide legal assistance for those detained. Pagan,
the coalitions convener, hopes to broaden their efforts
to a national level, connecting with other Christians to
advocate for laws that ensure due process and fair treatment
for all people, citizens or not.

Pagan believes that there should be civilnot
criminalenforcement of the laws in order to be
consistent with the constitutional assurance that no one
should be deprived of "freedom, property, or life
without due process."

The coalition is not seeking policies without limits or
restrictions, but guarantees of humane treatment for all,
citizen and non-citizen. Last years Proposition 187 in
California was a sign of a growing anti-immigrant sentiment
in the country that affects not only illegal immigrants, but
also those who are here legally. Even more frightening are
the racist undertones, when all people of colorall
"foreign" looking peopleare automatically
considered suspect.

"Churches have a lot to do," according to Pagan.
"[They are] the ethical voice of God to society. They
need to talk about these issues, take a stand, and be willing
to organize and participate in the political process to
change the laws." Pagan hopes that pastors and church
leaders will take up the call to deal with these issues,
"because if they do that they will affect their
communities."

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